Test bench cases, anyone used one?

[Rajahal]

Just found this while working on the wiki, anyone used it or something like it?

 

CL-001-KKN1-GP - Coolermaster Lab Test Bench Case V1.0, Black, Desktop, w/o PSU

 

My first thought was 'cool!'.  My second thought was 'is it worth it?'

 

I'll be building my own computer workbench/area soon for my home business, and so I'm considering getting one of these.  Or perhaps I could just tear up one of the many spare cases I have and sort of fashion my own.  I'm mainly attracted to the idea of being able to swap out a motherboard very easily without changing any other components.  However, this design obviously leaves the core components exposed to dust and potential injury.  I don't have any kids to worry about, but I do have a dog...

 

Thoughts?

[BRiT]

Why not just use a workbench or table? All that's really needed are the cables from the front of a case for power/reset/status leds.

[Rajahal]

Yeah, I was thinking about that as well.  As long as the table is wood or plastic or something non-conductive, all the components could just sit directly on the table.  I doubt cooling would be a problem in my area, except for maybe in the middle of the summer.  A simple desk fan would take care of that.

[Chris Pollard]

waste of money imho. 

[prostuff1]

I would just use a wooden bench to build on.  I would probably make a case (if you want one) out of 1 by 2 and 1 by 4.

[WeeboTech]

I would jump on this in a heartbeat. I could use it allot.

I do allot of testing with open motherboards. I usually sit them on a box, then have the power supply somewhere then start attaching hard drives. before you know it, it's a big mess.

 

Me wants... if anyone sees them for sale in USA, post a note in good deals.

[Rajahal]

Will do.  I haven't seen one in the US either.

[unraided]

I'd say it would be bit of a niche item to have. For the likes of Tom, keen PC System Builders (on this forum testing hardware or not), or for those who need to test a assortment of boards, cards, etc... constantly, it would be great to have.

Back in the day when I was a PC System Builder (many years ago in an old crummy PC shop I might add), I built my own 'Test Board'. It had a standard ATX PS, a IDE CDROM drive (for booting into Linux CD's like Knoppix), a old IDE PATA disk and some cards spare (NIC, Sound, and Video).

I'd use this purely for mobo testing, burn in tests, stress tests and to try different hardware mixes without actually assembling it into a case or leaving it scattered on a desk. It didn't look as fancy as the Cooler Master kit, but it did the job. Antec have something on the same lines as the Cooler Master kit too, see link below:

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2008/11/12/antec-skeleton/1

 

Again, I wouldn't buy it, but I could see that it might interest others, whether their a PC Builder by trade or by hobby. Good find Rajahal.

[WeeboTech]

The antec skeleton is neat, but that top fan seems to get in the way.

If it were removable, then it might be a nicer developer case.

Maybe I can find a cheap one on eBay and chop it up! LOL.

[Chris Pollard]

Another make for those that are interested.  I found these for sale a while back and they were way over priced.  (in the UK anyway, prices look ok on that site )

 

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Tech_Station

 

 

[WeeboTech]

Another make for those that are interested.  I found these for sale a while back and they were way over priced.  (in the UK anyway, prices look ok on that site )

 

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Tech_Station

 

 

Those are nice too. I looked at those a while back.

I liked the coolermaster design where the case houses the PSU and drives and the motherboard is exposed.

 

EDIT: Hmmm... the top deck model might serve my purpose.

[Chris Pollard]

I ended up buying a random ATX case with PSU from ebay for £10 and cutting it to pieces and mounting on a bit of wood.  Pretty effective and about a tenth the price.

[Chris Pollard]

 

EDIT: Hmmm... the top deck model might serve my purpose.

 

Yeah, that's the one I liked but it was £100+ in the UK so I passed.

[WeeboTech]

I ended up buying a random ATX case with PSU from ebay for £10 and cutting it to pieces and mounting on a bit of wood.  Pretty effective and about a tenth the price.

 

What I ended up doing was buying the large cooler master stacker.

There's so much room in it, I could do anything.

But now I'm converting it to a 20 drive unraid server, so I'll need a bench/test case.

Frequently, I drop an anti-static mat on a tv cart, but I end up with wires and drives all over the place.

So a test bench rack would be perfect considering how much open testing I do.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Keep'em coming guys!

[Rajahal]

I ended up buying a random ATX case with PSU from ebay for £10 and cutting it to pieces and mounting on a bit of wood.  Pretty effective and about a tenth the price.

 

Care to post pics?  I would be interested to see that.

[ilovejedd]

Just found this while working on the wiki, anyone used it or something like it?

 

CL-001-KKN1-GP - Coolermaster Lab Test Bench Case V1.0, Black, Desktop, w/o PSU

 

My first thought was 'cool!'.  My second thought was 'is it worth it?'

 

I'll be building my own computer workbench/area soon for my home business, and so I'm considering getting one of these.  Or perhaps I could just tear up one of the many spare cases I have and sort of fashion my own.  I'm mainly attracted to the idea of being able to swap out a motherboard very easily without changing any other components.  However, this design obviously leaves the core components exposed to dust and potential injury.  I don't have any kids to worry about, but I do have a dog...

 

Thoughts?

Wow, that looks pretty nice. Seems very compact, too, for a test bench which I really like. Wish they had it in the US. For around US$100, I'd jump on it. Love to get this one, too.